Chemicals, Waste, and Hazmat Transportation: Outlook for 2016

According the Bloomberg BNA, major stories in 2016 involve an expected overhaul of the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts toward sustainable management of solid waste and court rulings on cleanup-related allocation and divisibility under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (also referred to as CERCLA or Superfund).

Another development in 2016, according to Bloomberg BNA, is the move to improve the safety of crude oil movement by rail. This will include the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) move to address litigation and policy mandates.

With respect to chemicals, 2016 may be the year that the TSCA gets revised since it first became law in 1976. According to Bloomberg BNA, Chemical trade associations will work with both chambers of Congress to reconcile their bills to modernize the TSCA.

More developments predicted in 2016 include the focus of CERCLA cleanups on bodies of water and large contaminated sediment sites in 2016. Courts are expected to flesh out apportionment and allocation issues in lawsuits over who is responsible, and for how much, for cleanup of contaminated sites.

Finally, Bloomberg BNA’s outlook for 2016 states that the U.S. EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management will continue implementation of the coal ash and definition of solid waste rules under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and publish final rules under RCRA on hazardous pharmaceutical management, hazardous waste generators and the export and import of hazardous waste.